Name: Victoria Campbell
Where: All over the place – currently Wollaston Lake SK (The top of the world), sometimes Toronto.
What can you tell us about life with diabetes? It sucks. It is complicated and involves a lot of effort to maintain, keep healthy and stay alive. I was diagnosed 21 years ago at the age of 3 I am volatile and my blood sugars bounce around all the time with little indication as to why. I started on the pump 12 years ago and that has helped a lot but still life is not as good as I would like it to be.
Every day I need to think about what food I will eat when and what activities I will be doing. Living in an isolated northern Canadian community, my day involves a lot more planning since food is not as easily accessible and neither is healthcare.
Growing up, kids did not understand why I had to take needles or poke my finger and make it bleed on purpose, many times a day. Even worse was when one of my good friends – a classmate – was diagnosed in grade 6 just after I had switched to that school. The other kids thought they would catch diabetes and so I was excluded as a result.
How did you come to your first event at Connected in Motion? I knew Jen from camp and was following her diabetes posts for a while. I keep asking for information on different events and then chickening out. I then moved to Scotland so being involved was more difficult.
I finally decided to give CIM a shot and went to the Winter Slipstream last winter. It was probably the most terrifying thing I have ever done – going and meeting a group of diabetics knowing that my control was nothing near what it was supposed to be and fearing everyone was going to judge me because of my struggles, while knowing I may not be able to keep up due to other health concerns. I may have cried the entire weekend as a result of all the challenges I was addressing. After the weekend, I was not sure if I wanted to be a part of the group still because of how intense I thought it was …. After some consideration I realized the reason it was so intense and I was not sure of things was because of how supportive everyone was and how open everyone was to struggles and addressing them while at the same time challenging their diabetes.
What has Connected in Motion meant to you? CIM represents hope, challenge and friendship. Knowing there is a group of people out there who understand what you are going through and seeing them overcome obstacles gives you hope while challenging you to live a more active, self-directed life. At the same time, you have a group of friends who understand what it means to go low and be frustrated or who will share in your joy of a day of fantastic blood sugars.
This summer, I decided to sign up to do a 10 k bike ride – something I usually would not consider. I was able to complete it without my blood sugars dropping or going high which is almost a miracle. Usually I just allowed my sugars to sit high otherwise I would bounce too much during activities. By hanging out with CIM members and seeing how they dealt with and responded to exercise, it was possible to do some experimenting to find what the best solution to mastering blood sugars would be.
I also decided I would give the annual canoe trip a try this summer – again I had concerns about my ability to participate however for the most part I survived, minus the fact I was more swollen than a balloon and managed to get an ear infection which resulted in a lake water brain wash while jumping off of a cliff. I was able to overcome challenges and test out my limits. I enjoyed the trip and appreciate all of the support the fellow trippers had to offer.
Vicki, in back, 4th from the right.
Currently, I am working as a physical education teacher at a primary school. When I first qualified as a teacher I would never have thought or agreed to be a PE teacher. The idea of exercising and being low all day was not something I wanted to have to work through. I have found ways to support and address my work schedule as well as my weekend one so that I am not continuously having my blood sugar drop and can enjoy being active.
Every day is a struggle while living with diabetes. It is helpful to know and see other people who challenge the effects of living with diabetes and gives hope to others that they too can take charge of their life.
Thanks, Vicki, for the submission! If you would like to add your own diabetes and Connected in Motion story we’ve made a super simple form to fill out here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HZMY26B.
Questions or comments about the series? Email Virtue at getsocial@connectedinmotion.ca.
